48 Hours
by Chaynne
Summary: Scully goes out for a drink, which leads to all kinds of bizarre things!


Disclaimer: Skinner, Scully and the rest of the jolly bunch belong to Chris Carter, 1013 Productions and Fox. I'm just having some fun with them, 'cause they don't have any on the show... Anyone that you don't recognise, they belong to little ol' me and my cheerfully warped imagination!  
  
48 Hours  
  
Friday  
  
Dana Scully was pretty sure that Lianne had said to meet her at the Hair of the Dog at eight thirty. She had just glanced at her watch for the fourth time in fifteen minutes. Lianne was almost an hour late. It was just like Lee to be late. She had done it all her life. Lee always thought that the world existed solely for her entertainment.   
  
The bar was half full, which was normal for this time on a Friday night. There was a buzz of conversation coming from the patrons seated around the very small, smoky room. There were two waitresses, a tired looking blonde, and a younger, perky brunette. Hair of the Dog was small enough to only warrant two waitresses, even on a busy night. Dana sat with her back to the room, one of the few people who were alone, and the only woman sitting alone at the bar. She hated what Lee was putting her through. She could have been at home, watching TV, alone. Instead, she was sitting at a bar, alone.  
  
Dana shifted uncomfortably on the hard plastic barstool, very aware of the fact that the beady-eyed little man at the other end of the bar was eyeing her. He was obviously some kind of pencil pusher. He was balding with wispy hair. He had the brow beaten look of a clerk who had spent too long at the bottom of the employment ladder. Now that he had some drinks inside him, he was relying on Dutch courage to get him through the night. The only thing that stopped him from advancing and asking Dana if he could buy her a drink were the steely glances that she sent his way.   
  
When Dana had first arrived at the bar, the bartender told her that his name was Jack. He now looked at her with a sympathetic expression on his face. He was tall, muscular and clean-shaven. He looked like he was a bouncer in his spare time. He'd been chatting to her on and off for most of the night, the kind of small talk that strangers make at parties. She realised that he was keeping an eye out for her, the lone female at the bar. Strangely, she felt particularly vulnerable. For the umpteenth time, she wondered what had made Lianne chose this bar in the first place.  
  
Jack bought her a glass of mineral water, and asked her, "Tough night, huh?" Dana looked up at him in mild surprise. Et tu, Brutus? she thought sourly, as she wondered if he thought it was time to try his hand at seducing her. She wasn't sure if to laugh or to tell him where to get off. Instead, she gestured to the drink. "I didn't order this." she told him flatly.   
  
  
  
"I know you didn't, he did." He indicated with his head down the bar. Dana sighed. Obviously the poor desk jockey didn't have the courage to send her a drink himself, he had the bartender do it.  
  
"Is it the small, middle-aged guy that's been making cow eyes at me all night?" she asked Jack. The muscular man laughed at that one. "No, not Mick. He's a regular, so ignore him. No, it's the well-dressed gentleman at the corner table."  
  
Curious now, Dana swivelled her head to look in the direction Jack was discretely indicating. It took her a couple of seconds to get accustomed to the darker corner. There was the man, sitting at table and staring in her direction. As her focus settled on him, he inclined his head in acknowledgement.  
  
"Oh ... my ... god!" She breathed. She would recognise that silhouette anywhere! As if from afar, she heard Jack's voice asking, "Are you OK?" He was obviously concerned at her reaction.  
  
She turned back to him, a dazed look on his face. "That's no stranger, that's my boss!"  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Walter Skinner wasn't exactly sure why he had chosen to go to the Hair of the Dog instead of going home to Crystal City. He usually passed the bar every night as he went home. Tonight, he didn't feel like spending another Friday night alone. He needed some human company. Hair of the Dog was close enough to his home to afford the taxi fare home, should he need it. It was also far enough away from the office that he was unlikely to see any one that he knew. The general consensus in the Bureau was that he was a workaholic. He didn't want to spoil his hard-ass reputation by being seen socialising, and, god forbid, actually smiling and enjoying himself.   
  
Since Sharon had gone, this was one of the few times that he'd gone out socially. He couldn't believe how much he missed her presence; strangely enough, he missed not having someone in the house when he came home. It was the only thing he really missed about her. He'd been spending a lot of time in the office, not wanting to go home to an empty house. Of course, that didn't work. He still had to go home and sleep. Tonight, on the spur of the moment, he decided to go into the bar instead of going home. It was better than the office and infinitely better than the empty apartment.  
  
He had entered the darkened bar, and got himself settled in a dark corner table. A buxom blonde waitress took his order, and he spent a short time sipping his malt whiskey and surveying the room. It was at that point he saw Dana Scully at the bar, looking uncomfortable and nursing a drink. He was more than slightly surprised to see her there. To be quite honest, he wasn't sure that Scully had a life out side of the X Files. The kind of hours that they worked, well, it didn't leave for much of a social life. Kind of much like him...  
  
Skinner watched the redhead for a while; she was clearly waiting for someone. The bartender was chatting and laughing with her, so maybe she knew him. After watching her body language for a minute or two, Skinner realised that she was uncomfortable, so then again, maybe she didn't know him. The weedy guy on the end of the bar kept sending covert glances her way, and Scully kept sending him the patented Scully look that had sent braver men than him scurrying for cover. The poor guy had to be drunker than he looked.  
  
Scully kept glancing at her watch, then around the bar, clearly agitated that her date hadn't shown up yet. Skinner found he getting annoyed at the tardiness of her unknown date. Obviously he - the date - was some one who didn't know her very well. But why was she standing for this? She was a no-nonsense woman. It didn't seem likely that she would tolerate being stood up. Would she? He wondered who would be brave enough to stand her up in the first place. It had to be a blind date. Was Scully so desperate for company that she was resorting to a blind date? He couldn't believe that. The guys around the office had a standing fantasy that involved a certain naked red haired agent, a pair of handcuffs and an empty interrogating room. They had taken pains for him not to know, after all, he was her direct superior. The guys knew how protective he was of her and Mulder. He didn't usually join in their locker room humour. He had found out about the fantasy by accident, and surprisingly, he was amused. It had given him a lot to think about. That particular fantasy had fuelled quite a lot of his own, and haunted his dreams. That was when he had begun to suspect that he had less than professional feelings for one of his pet Special Agents.  
  
He had spent quite a few restless nights trying to work out what it all meant. He wasn't supposed to feel anything for her. Nothing but what a boss was supposed to feel for an employee. So why did he feel different? He wasn't sure he wanted to find out. He didn't think that he was strong enough for the truth.  
  
He watched Scully again, glancing at her watch, waiting for her tardy date and making small talk with the bartender. She really deserved better than that, he thought to himself again, then signalled the waitress, his decision made. He quickly told her what he wanted. The blonde looked at him, then at the red head and smiled, making her way over to the bar. A few seconds later, Scully was looking down in the corner for him. She squinted, then saw him. He inclined his head in acknowledgement. Even from this distance her shock was evident. He decided there and then that he liked the way that she blushed. She should do it more often. The bartender hovered over her shoulder, and she said something to him that made him smile. She got up slowly, then, as if she was in a daze, and started to make her way to him. But before she could take another step, a tiny raven-haired beauty turned up and waylaid her. It was Skinner's turn to look shocked. Never in a million years would he have thought he would see her again.  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Dana stood to walk over to Walter Skinner's table. She couldn't believe that he'd bought her a drink. Over the years, had she completely misjudged him? Misread his intentions? She wouldn't believe that he was that kind of man, someone who would spend his time running after women. He seemed so emotionless at work. Never in a million years did she think he would be in a bar buying her a drink. To be honest, she wouldn't be here either if it weren't for Lianne. She took a step forward, only to be stopped by a hand on her arm.  
  
"Day, you're not leaving already, are you?"   
  
Dana stopped at the sound of the British voice and turned round, a bemused look on her face. "I like your idea of 8:30. I thought you Brits were supposed to be punctual?"  
  
The raven-haired woman smiled sensuously. "James waylaid me." She replied, making it clear that she didn't mind at all her husband's kind of distraction.   
  
"Haven't you heard of the phone?" Dana demanded, trying to keep the smile off her face.  
  
"Day, shut up and hug your oldest friend!" Lianne laughed and the two women hugged warmly.  
  
Dana looked up at the bartender. "Two vodka Martinis ..." she started.  
  
"Shaken not stirred!" Lianne finished, laughing.   
  
Jack smiled. "Coming right up, ladies."  
  
Dana looked back across at Skinner; he was sitting there with his mouth open and a shocked look in his face. The two women were starting to drift in his general direction; he shook his head, looking at Lianne, then back at her. With a shock, Dana realised that he didn't want to meet Lianne. But why? Accustomed to obeying her boss without a word, she steered her friend to another corner booth, where they would be hidden from view. Then she pushed the enigma of Walter Skinner out of her mind.  
  
"So. I have James to thank for you being an hour and a half late?" Dana smiled as the waitress brought their drinks to the table.   
  
Lianne nodded. "I can never say no to him. He can be very...persuasive." she laughed.  
  
Dana nodded knowingly. "Your husband could talk the Irish into buying the Blarney Stone."   
  
"He also talked me into helping him dress." Lianne replied.  
  
"You mean undress!" Dana snorted, trying unsuccessfully to hide her laughter. "I know you and James, you're like bunnies all damn day."  
  
The blonde waitress came over and put the cocktails down. She looked at Dana and handed her a note. "This is from Jack." she told the redhead. Dana frowned, aware of Lee's interested scrutiny. She opened it, to find a large writing hand slashing across the page. Your friend just left. Just thought you wanted to know. Hmm. Skinner was getting stranger and stranger.  
  
"Love notes?" Lianne's voice broke into her reverie.   
  
"Hmm?" Dana looked up, a distracted look on her face.  
  
"I asked you if Jack is sending you love notes. Who is Jack, anyway?"  
  
"The bartender." Dana answered automatically, her mind elsewhere. What the hell was Skinner's angle? The man was harder to figure out than one of their damn X Files!  
  
"Day, you need a life if you have to resort to a bartender to keep your bed warm at night..." Lianne looked up and gave the muscular man a careful head to toe scrutiny. "I take back that opinion. He's not that bad...is he good in bed?"  
  
"Who?!" Dana now realised what kind of territory her oldest friend was heading into, and started to listen in earnest. "Is who good in bed?"   
  
"The bartender. That's who. Don't you remember your own boyfriend?"  
  
Dana burst out laughing. "Jack isn't my boyfriend! Whatever gave you that idea?"   
  
Lianne shook her head. "Never mind. Whatcha been up to? How is that gorgeous partner of yours? C'mon, girl, you've been so busy, you haven't had time to catch up with me!" Lianne looked at the note on the table, read it, and switched subjects.   
  
"Who's your friend?"  
  
"Hmm? My friend?"  
  
"The note, love. "  
  
"Oh. That. A man who I thought I knew...he always seemed so...unemotional...he was just in here. He tried to buy me a drink." Dana said vaguely.  
  
"Tried?"  
  
"Well, he bought me one, and had it sent via the bartender. I, ah, didn't get a chance to ask him what was going on."  
  
"So what's wrong? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Wedding bells or harassment lawsuit?"  
  
"Wedding bells...! I wouldn't go that far. Lawsuit, definitely, no." Dana laughed, drawing circles on the table with the edge of her coaster.  
  
"So you like him then?"  
  
Dana sighed and looked at her friend. "Do you want the Silhouette answer or the gritty reality answer?"  
  
"Well, romance novels were never my forte, I couldn't stand the happily ever after crap. I guess we have to stick with gritty reality." Lianne grinned.  
  
"Well, for starters, he's my boss, and he's never shown me the slightest interest up until now. Well, no, I can't say that, we have an unusual working relationship; we've been in situations that have meant life and death. I would entrust my life to him." Dana's eyes glazed over. "There have been a couple of times I've owed my life to him. For the most part, he's been there when I needed him...but sometimes his superiors make it impossible for him to, ah, stick his neck out for us."   
  
"'Us' as in you and Fox." Lianne added.  
  
"Yes. And, I've uh, kissed him." Even in the dim light, Lianne could see that her friend had turned a brilliant shade of red.  
  
"DAY!!! When? How?" Lianne shrieked.  
  
Dana smiled at the memory. "Mulder was missing, and Skinner and I thought he was dead. Skinner got some highly classified info for me...and I was so grateful, I kissed him. He was as shocked as I was."  
  
"But he enjoyed it?" Lianne persisted.  
  
Dana remembered the look in his eyes afterwards, and in the days to follow, how his manner had changed slightly. He had become more gallant toward her. She had often caught him watching her when he thought she wasn't looking.  
  
"Yes. I think he did." she said finally, unaware of the wistful smile on her face.  
  
"You think?" Lianne demanded.  
  
"OK, yes, he enjoyed it." Dana admitted.  
  
"And by the look on your face, I would say that you did too." Lianne's clipped British tones held a spark of amusement. "So I think that safely says that you two should be a couple. Or at least explore the possibilities. So what's the problem?"  
  
"Lee, he's my boss, that's the problem. The Bureau has strict guidelines on that sort of thing...we could lose our jobs over this. And our superiors have shut down the X Files division so many times, they're just waiting for us to screw up. We can't afford to do this."  
  
"Even if it means that you sacrifice your personal happiness?" Lianne's tone was disbelieving.  
  
"Its not like I haven't done that before." Dana's derisive tone made her friend look at her in real concern.  
  
"Day, what's wrong?"   
  
Dana took a sip of her drink and looked her life-long friend straight in the eye. "I'm fed up, Lee. I'm not going anywhere in the X Files division. I want to quit."  
  
"Does Mulder know about this?"  
  
"You know he's not going to understand why I'm doing this."  
  
"What about your boss, this Skinner?"  
  
"God, no." Even as she was denying it, Dana wondered again what he had been doing in the bar, buying her drinks.  
  
"He can't be that difficult?" Lianne leaned forward, sipping her own drink. "Or can he?"  
  
"God, I don't know with Skinner. Sometimes he's the best boss in the world, you wouldn't believe some of the things he does for us, and other times...well, its like being with Jekyll and Hyde."  
  
"So because of that you want to quit."   
  
"Lee, you make it sound like I got up this morning and decided to quit...!"  
  
"You didn't?" the other woman smiled.  
  
"Lee, I'm serious!" Dana laughed, in spite of herself.  
  
"And you liking your boss has absolutely *nothing* to do with your quitting." Lianne was giggling madly by now.  
  
"No!" Dana was laughing uncontrollably.  
  
The two women sobered up. "What are you going to do, Day?"  
  
"I want to quit, but Mulder needs me." Dana admitted.  
  
"For what? He's not your husband, lover or father. He doesn't need your approval, and, to make matters worse, he has a disgusting habit of dropping everything and running when he wants to, leaving you in the lurch! I've heard you crying at two in the morning because of him and his disappearing acts, Dana, and its time to stop torturing yourself! He's a bastard!" Lee finished passionately.   
  
Dana was speechless.  
  
"I know you're shocked I feel this way, but Day, you *need* a life. I remember when you wanted to make a difference. This is *not* what you are doing. You did *not* go through hell in college just to become a glorified nursemaid, Dana Katherine Scully!"  
  
Lianne had voiced all the opinions she was afraid of. She realised that now they were out in the light of day, they didn't hurt or sound stupid. They sounded intelligent, reasonable and quite normal.  
  
Dana finally found her voice. "You're right. I *will* hand in my resignation on Monday." She said determinedly.   
  
"Do you have a job?" Lianne asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Do you want one?"  
  
Dana looked at her friend. "What exactly do you have in mind, Lianne Hudson?"  
  
"Well...James needs a coroner. The last one, uh, died. " Lianne smiled at the irony of the situation. "It's not public, yet, but...I can put in a good word for you. Actually, you can come across on Sunday, for lunch, and the two of you can talk about pathogens and all that yucky stuff.   
  
"OK." Dana smiled. She felt more at rest now than she had been for the last six months.  
  
"And there *is* another reason why I want you to come to lunch on Sunday." Lianne said, with a sideways glance.  
  
"Oh?"  
  
Lianne broke into a brilliant smile.  
  
"James and I are celebrating...we're going to have a baby!"  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Saturday  
  
Dana did not talk to James Hudson on Sunday; as soon as he had heard that the FBI agent was interested in the job, he called her. The incessant ringing of the phone woke Dana up from the bizarre dream she was having, and she rolled over, groggily groping for the phone.  
  
"'Lo?" she mumbled sleepily into the phone. She felt like she had only just dropped to sleep...after last night, she had no idea how she had reached home, or who had undressed her and tucked her into bed.  
  
"Dana? Did I wake you? God, I'm sorry..." A deep Texan drawl washed over her.  
  
"James? Oh, no, no, it's not a problem!" Dana replied, now wide-awake. "I just have a slight hangover. I'd forgotten how your wife loves to try and get me drunk.  
  
James laughed. "It's the last time she's gonna do it, so she wanted to do it in style."  
  
Dana squinted in the sunlight that was flooding the room, trying to get good look at the bedside clock.  
  
"Umm, James, I can't see the clock, the numbers are marching up and down...what time is it?"  
  
"8 am."  
  
"Where's Lianne?"   
  
"Sleeping."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I wanted to talk to you about the job."  
  
Dana closed her eyes. "Could it wait till I get my brain to work? It feels like its stuffed full of sawdust."  
  
She could hear James' quiet chuckle. He knew better than to make any loud noises. He had plenty of experience dealing with his wife's hangovers.  
  
"Its gonna be short, honey. You have the job." he told her.  
  
"What?" Dana shot upright in bed and regretted it. The room was spinning madly.   
  
"I've seen you work, I know your style. We can have an informal interview on Monday morning, but as far as I'm concerned, you have the job. I just needed to know that you were interested."  
  
"Uh...I'm at a loss for words."  
  
"Come and see me later, or at the luncheon tomorrow. We can discuss it then."  
  
"I haven't resigned yet, you know that?"   
  
"Yes, and we're willing to wait for you. You're quite a medical catch, Dana Scully."  
  
"Thanks, I think!"  
  
James chuckled again. "Don't mention it. Go back to sleep, honey, and I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Dana put down the phone in a daze, and lay back on her pillow. She should really take a vacation between this job and the next one. She had been in the midst of an odd dream where she had tried to kiss Skinner, and practically raped him in his car. In the dream, he drove a black Corvette Stingray. It looked sleek and dangerous, just like him. In the dream, she had said and done some really outrageous things... and she distinctly remembered telling him she loved him. Why that aspect of the dream stuck in her mind, she didn't know. In the light of day, it was too horrible to contemplate. She really had to wonder why she had these feelings for Walter Skinner. He was her boss. Her *BOSS*! Having a crush on your boss that was the size of the Empire State Building was not a good thing. It was a good thing it had all happened in a dream. She'd never be able to live it down if it had really happened. She started to relax; her eyes drifted shut. As she dropped to sleep, she remembered that she had forgotten to thank James for carrying her home last night...  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
The smell of black coffee woke Dana. She still felt like hell, but now she had had some sleep, she felt a lot better. Mulder must have come in earlier, and was making coffee. She swung her legs out of bed, and walked into the bathroom, tugging her nightshirt down. She washed her face and emptied her excruciatingly full bladder. That was one thing that she really hated about drinking. She walked slowly into the kitchen, scratching her head. "How did you know I wanted coffee, Mul -" she stopped at the sight of the tall man in her kitchen, leaning up against the counter, a bemused smile on his face.  
  
"This may be the first and the last time that anyone mistakes me for Fox Mulder!" Walter Skinner smiled, brown eyes dancing in amusement.  
  
Dana knew she was standing there with her mouth wide open. She snapped it shut with an audible click. She knew what her mind was seeing: her boss, Walter S. Skinner, in *tight* butt-hugging jeans and a white tee, lounging in *her* kitchen, making coffee. She was seeing it, but she couldn't believe it. This was not her boss. Her boss spent his day in starched shirts and ties, barking out orders to everyone and scowling like it was going out of style. Her boss did *not* wear jeans so tight they should be outlawed. He was *not* muscular - where had he been hiding that gorgeous bod all these years?! - and he did *not* smile!   
  
In fact, Dana's brain was so befuddled and confused, she said the first thing that came into her mind. "Is that you, Skinner, or your clone?"  
  
As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she regretted it. Dana was mortified. She clapped her hand over her mouth, horrified. To her amazement, the Skinner clone - it *had* to be a clone - burst out laughing.   
  
"The last time I checked, it was me. I wasn't aware there were two of me running around."  
  
"Oh, god, sir, I'm sorry -!"  
  
"Scully...Dana...leave it alone. Aren't you going to thank me?"  
  
"Thank you? For what?" Did he just call me Dana?  
  
"Don't look so scared. For getting you home last night."   
  
"Home...? Didn't James and Lianne...?" Dana's voice trailed off uncertainly.  
  
A strange look came across Walter's face, but Dana was too busy being ashamed to notice. "I came back to the bar because I'd left my cell phone there, and you and ...Lianne were getting ready to leave. I made sure James got Lianne into a taxi, and I took you home."  
  
"Did...did I do anything I might regret?" Dana whispered, sinking into a chair at the breakfast bar.  
  
Walter noticed the deep red flush that was climbing up her chest and across her face. It made her look cute.  
  
"Well...you kept trying to kiss me." He said, a smile tugging at his lips.  
  
"Kiss...!" Dana's voice had risen to a squeak.  
  
"And you commented a number of times on the size of the, umm, bulge in my jeans."  
  
Dana wanted to drop through the floor. She put her head on her hands. This was surreal. It was a nightmare. She had thought she had dreamed it all. Obviously not. And she could hear the smirk in Skinner's voice. Obviously, he had lost all respect for her. It was a good thing she was resigning.  
  
"You told me you were quitting."  
  
Dana looked up at him through slitted fingers. "Does it get worse?"  
  
"It depends on how you look at it..." he stopped, and glanced sidelong at the squirming woman.  
  
"You did a little striptease, but I managed to stop you before you took off your underwear."   
  
"Oh - my - god!" Dana's voice was barely audible. Walter started to laugh, but stopped as he realised that the younger woman looked ready to cry. He was by her side in two strides, and knelt on the floor by the chair, hugging the forlorn redhead.   
  
"Dana, don't cry, please."  
  
"You probably think I'm a drunken idiot. You've lost all respect for me!" she sniffed, tears falling down her cheeks. She rested her head on his broad chest. He stroked her titian hair, trying to make her feel better.  
  
"Lost - no, I haven't. I thought you were pretty funny, but I haven't lost all respect for you. I stayed here last night to make sure you were ok." he stopped and looked up at her blotchy face. She looked shocked.   
  
"You stayed here for *me*!" She sounded as if she'd been inhaling helium.  
  
He cleared his throat self-consciously. "You may not have noticed, but I happen to like you a lot."  
  
Walter felt the same way that she did?! This was too much to hope for! Dana's throat felt dry, and insanely, she was suddenly struck at how *masculine* Walter smelled. "You do?" she whispered. "Why?"   
  
"Because you're not afraid." At the perplexed look on her face, he continued. "I've watched you over the years, and I realise that you're the strongest person I know. The things that have happened to you would have crippled a weaker person. But you carry on. You keep going. That's what attracted me to you. You're not afraid to stop to let them get to you."  
  
Dana smiled a bittersweet smile and sniffed back her tears. "That's where you're wrong. I'm afraid to stop going. I'm like a shark. If I stop swimming I'll be crushed." Walter tilted her chin up, so that she was looking directly into his warm brown eyes. He brushed the tears from her cheeks.  
  
"Look at me. I've failed you before. I don't want to fail you again." he said. He was thinking of all the times during their career together that he'd had to sacrifice the X files on the altar of his superior's whims. Dana sniffed, afraid she was going to burst into noisy tears, like a child.   
  
"You've never failed me!" Dana replied, shocked that he would even feel that way. "But I don't want you to feel that you are obligated to me. " she reminded him, gently.   
  
Dana realised that this was one of the strangest days of her life. She had decided to quit her job, got drunk, and now, her boss was confessing romantic feelings for her. This was uncharted territory for both of them. Walter was not used to sharing his feelings, and he had done more than he was accustomed to. Dana realised this, and knew that to get Walter on the way to healing himself, she had to show him the way.  
  
"Walter," she said quietly, "I want us to start on the right foot. Whatever we do, we do it together."   
  
He looked at her, the implications of what she had said sinking in. She had not run screaming when he had declared his feelings for her, neither had she burst out laughing, nor made him feel two inches tall, which was his late wife's speciality. Instead she had made him feel like a giant. He relaxed against the younger woman, and she felt it. She knew it was going to be a good start for them.   
  
They sat like that for a long time, with Walter kneeling on the floor, his head on Dana's chest, hugging her. She sat on the chair, encircled by his strong arms. She wondered why she had not let Walter into her life a long time ago. She felt so safe and loved.  
  
She wasn't sure who started the kiss. It just seemed right. It started out slowly, a tentative exploratory kiss. Walter started to drop butterfly kisses all over her face. He stopped and looked at her.   
  
"May I?" he asked. Dana smiled and nodded. Their kisses grew more heated. Walter moved position so that he was kneeling between her legs, and kissing her passionately. They knew they had entered a new realm in their relationship, and none of them wanted to look back. Walter looked toward the bedroom, then back at Dana. "May I?" He asked again. Dana smiled, rose and led him to the bedroom.  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Lianne Hudson rapped frantically on Dana Scully's apartment door, early Saturday evening. She and Dana had gone drinking the night before; she'd had a hell of a hangover. She had slept till mid afternoon. When she woke up, she asked James for Dana. Appearing quite unconcerned, her husband had then told her how a stranger had taken Dana home. Lianne had tried calling to find out if she was OK. She had called at least five times, and all she kept getting was a busy signal. Thoroughly worried, she had driven across town to make sure her friend was all right She didn't like the idea of Dana leaving with a stranger, and she had told off her Texan husband for letting it happen in the first place. His only defence was that the guy in question had known her pretty well, and he seemed safe. Safe! Men just didn't understand when it came to these things!   
  
There was no answer at the door; Lianne banged distractedly again, wondering if she could get the super to open the door for her. Lianne had visions of Dana lying naked, violated and bloody on the floor.  
  
Lianne had raised her hand to rap again, when the door swung open, and Dana stood there, in a large white T-shirt, and a huge shit-eating grin on her face. "Lianne, what is your problem?" she asked, yawning and pushing her hair out of her eyes.  
  
"James told me some mystery man had taken you home. I thought you were dead or worse!"  
  
"Lee, there is nothing worse than dead." Dana smiled at her friend's melodramatic streak.  
  
"Huh! Let me in before the neighbours call the police. I've made enough noise out here."  
  
Dana shook her head, smiling, and let in the other woman. She led her into the kitchen. "What took you so long, anyway?" Lianne demanded.  
  
"Long?! How long were you knocking on the door?" Dana looked totally lost.  
  
"For at least ten minutes!"  
  
Dana blushed. "I didn't hear you. I only heard when I came out of the bedroom."  
  
"But I phoned you, like, 15 times!" Lianne threw up her hands in despair at her friend's uncharacteristic laid back ways  
  
"I had the phone off the hook." Dana admitted, blushing.  
  
"What on earth were you -" Lianne's eyes shifted to the kitchen counter. There was a can of whipped cream, a bottle of honey, and a class of ice cubes. "Oh my god...!" As if for the first time, Lianne took in Dana's dishevelled look and the huge grin on her face. "I - I guess I'm interrupting!" she stammered, at a rare loss for words.   
  
"Well, when you put it that way..." Dana laughed.  
  
"Dana, what happened?" Walter asked as he came through the door way, bare footed and clad in his jeans only. He came up behind her, embracing her from behind, and leaning down to whisper something seductive in his lover's ear. It was then that he caught sight of Lianne, who was staring slack mouthed at them.   
  
Dana, who was giggling at the time, started to say Lianne, "I want you to meet..." then faltered as she realised that the room was utterly silent. She straightened up, and looked at first Lianne, then back at Walter. "What's wrong?" she demanded, remembering Walter's strange behaviour when he had first seen her in the bar the night before.  
  
"I'm sorry, Lianne." Walter said, as if he hadn't heard her.  
  
"Sorry for what?" Dana demanded, feeling as if she had stepped into the middle of a strange play.  
  
Lianne sighed. "Day, we all need to talk." Walter was still holding Dana from behind. She could feel his deep sigh in response.  
  
"Talk about what?" Dana insisted, stubbornly. This wasn't fair. As soon as she had achieved a few hours of happiness, it looked as if it was going to be snatched away again.  
  
"Do you remember in high school when I had that crush on my oldest brother's friend? The friend who was visiting us for the fourth of July weekend?" Lianne asked softly.  
  
Dana wondered what that had to do with anything, but said, remembering, "You mean the one with the cute butt."   
  
Walter made a funny kind of strangled gasp behind Dana, and she turned to look at him. He had turned a brilliant red, and looked as if he wanted to drop straight through the floor.  
  
"You shouldn't be embarrassed. It's a compliment. Women like men's butts. Men discuss women like that all the time." she told him, a little self-righteously.  
  
"*You'd* be embarrassed if it was *your* butt being discussed like a piece of meat."  
  
The penny finally dropped for Dana. "You were Trevor's friend?!" she exclaimed.  
  
Walter nodded mutely. Dana moved away from him and to the counter, pausing to take out a bottle of whiskey from the cupboard under the sink. "I don't know about you guys, but I need a stiff drink." she said heavily, and poured some into the glass with the melting icecubes.  
  
She remembered when Lianne had come to her that summer night when they were both 16. Lee's face had been swollen and blotchy from crying. Dana had taken one look at her best friend and took her up to her room. Bill, Missy and Charlie, sensing the crisis, had all made themselves scarce, for once. "He's married!" the teen sobbed brokenheartedly on Dana's shoulder. "He's married and she's beautiful, and I just want to die!"   
  
"Did you see her?" Dana demanded.   
  
"He was talking to me, and she drove up, told him she'd been looking all over for him, and kissed him, then she looked right at me and *smiled*! And she thanked me for keeping her husband company, but it was OK now, he didn't have to baby sit any more, and it was time to run along home!"  
  
"And he didn't stop her?"  
  
"No!" the teen wailed.  
  
Dana was indignant and hurt for her friend. She had never seen this cute guy, but she liked him from Lianne's descriptions. Now he had hurt Lianne, and she was determined to hate him for the rest of her natural life. She couldn't understand how he could let his wife hurt Lianne like that.  
  
Now, almost twenty years later, she could feel the hurt radiating from her friend. It was just her luck to be caught up in a triangle between her best friend and her lover. Why couldn't she lead a normal life, just for once?  
  
After helping herself to another healthy swig of the whiskey, she hopped up onto the kitchen counter, facing Lianne. Walter came to stand next to her, lounging against the counter, but betraying his tension by the fact he had picked up Dana's free hand, and was playing idly with her fingers.  
  
He took a deep breath and began. "Lianne. I'm, uh, not accustomed to begging, or making explanations -" he held up his hand to stop the deluge of words he knew was coming "- but you have to listen to me in order to understand what happened that day, to understand what position Sharon had put me in. She's dead now, but she's coming back to haunt me every damn day of my life." He took another deep breath and carried on.   
  
"Sharon married me simply because she wanted to spite her father. She told me that she was pregnant, and back then, if that happened, well, you did the decent thing and got married. Especially if the bride was a high society figure, as she was. After we married she lost the baby. It was only years later that I discovered the whole charade, and that the baby had never existed. She was infertile, and had known it for years. She *hated* me. The only reason she stayed married to me was that her father threatened to disinherit her if she divorced me. She loved daddy's money more than she loved me, so..." he broke off, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He gripped Dana's hand more tightly, and started to subconsciously play with her fingers again.  
  
"It was after he died that she asked me for a divorce." he said, more for Dana's sake than Lianne's. "But I digress. That evening in the park, well, one of her *friends* told her I had spent almost the whole day with you, Lianne, and it wasn't good for Sharon's image. So she got in her car, drove across and ripped you to shreds. Sharon told me later that she knew it was harmless, but she didn't want you to get any ideas and/or - her words - get your hooks into me. I couldn't believe it, I was stunned. I tried calling your house, on the pretext of wanting to talk to Trevor, but you weren't there. Sharon told me later that night that if I even breathed your name again, she would circulate it around Washington that I'd had sex with you, that I was a child molester. Sharon had some very influential friends..." he stopped again, and shrugged. "I had no choice, Lianne. I wanted so badly to make it up to you, because you were such a great person. I'm so sorry."   
  
Lianne looked at the anguished man. It was plain that he had suffered for what had happened and for what was so obviously out of his control. But a perverse part of her wanted to make him suffer like she had. She remembered him when she had known him when she was 16; he had been handsome, articulate, witty, and most of all, had treated her like an adult. The child in her had wanted him to talk sternly to Sharon, then come back and sweep her off her feet, just like in all those romances that she and Dana had devoured. But now, looking back with adult hindsight, she knew what a terrible dilemma he had been in. She knew that Dana deserved some kind of happiness too. She could read her friend like an open book; she was thinking that she had finally found the perfect man and things just *had* to go terribly wrong. She couldn't do this to Dana. She couldn't let a twenty-year-old mistake screw up her friend's life. She took a deep breath and took Walter's hand, kissing his cheek. "Its OK. I know is wasn't your fault."  
  
Walter breathed an audible sigh of relief.   
  
"Now that we have that over and done with," Lianne smiled, "Can I take the two of you out to celebrate? Or would you rather be *alone*?"  
  
Walter and Dana looked at each other, and then Dana said, "Let's go out. We have plenty of time to be alone." She looked up at Walter and smiled, and Lianne knew she had done the right thing.  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Sunday  
  
"Walter, we have to talk." Dana's voice floated lazily in the semi darkness. Moonlight was streaming in through the window, illuminating the couple as they were lying in bed. Walter was lying on his back, and Dana on her side; her legs were entwined with his, her head resting on his chest, and their arms wrapped around each other. It was just after midnight, and they had just spent a leisurely evening getting to know one another better. The night was balmy. The window was open and the distant sounds of traffic trickled in. The couple was only wrapped up in a sheet, it was so humid. As Dana lay there, she could feel Walter's heart beating under her ear. She didn't want to spoil the good mood, but she knew that before they went any further, there was something they needed to clear up.  
  
"I know, honey."  
  
"I really am quitting. I - I came to that decision on Friday afternoon." she started, nervously. She found it strange. She could face shape shifting aliens without flinching, but now she was quaking, just because she had to tell Walter that she was quitting.  
  
A baritone chuckle rumbled under her ear. "Did you come to that decision before or after I bawled you and Mulder out over your last report?"  
  
"You're being very cavalier about the whole thing." Dana accused him, secretly stung that he hadn't begged her to stay in the X Files.  
  
"I have every reason to be cavalier. One, it makes our...relationship a lot easier, and two, I could see it coming. I was surprised that you lasted as long as you did."  
  
Dana raised her head and looked up at the older man in shock.  
  
"I know you a lot better than you think. I could see that you were dissatisfied with the X Files and with how Mulder was treating you."  
  
"Am I that transparent?" Dana sounded a more than a little petulant.  
  
"Only to me." Walter said fondly.  
  
"So...you don't mind?"  
  
"Should I?" Dana could hear the amusement in his voice.  
  
"Damn you, Walter Skinner! You are *so* infuriating! I'm trying to quit here!" she exploded, trying not to laugh.  
  
"I know..."  
  
"And you're not going to make it any easier for me?"  
  
"No."  
  
"You're a sadist." Dana retorted.  
  
"As long as we're trading compliments, I think you're sexy." Dana couldn't help it, she started to laugh.   
  
There was a short pause, then she said reflectively, "Walt, I have problems trying to reconcile the open, happy man I'm seeing this weekend with the unemotional man that I know. I'm not doing very well." Walter could hear the rueful smile in her voice. "What made you change?"  
  
There was a pause, and Dana could almost hear the older man's brain ticking.  
  
"After seeing you in the bar on Friday night, well, it made me think about a lot of things. Things that I didn't want to think about."  
  
"Like Sharon?"  
  
"Like Sharon." he agreed. "But also a lot of other things. As I sat there, watching you waiting and getting impatient, I got angry. Angry and jealous. Angry that someone had the nerve to stand you up, and jealous that it wasn't me that you were waiting for. When I got home, I started to remember all the things I'd done wrong with Sharon. We'd started out on the wrong foot, but I believe that if I had shown her a little more of my human side, things could have been different.  
  
"But you said it yourself, she hated you!" Dana pointed out.  
  
"Would she have changed, if I had been different? I've been asking myself that for years, even more so after she died. I also wonder if things would have been different if I had told you and Mulder what the odds were in the beginning, rather than you having to second guess me all the time." Walter replied, a introspective look on his face.  
  
"We would never have trusted you." Dana said succinctly. "Mulder and I have had this discussion many times...especially when we didn't know what side of the fence you were on."   
  
"What made you believe I was on your side?" Walter shifted, interested in what the younger woman had to say.  
  
There was no hesitation on Dana's part. "You did things for us, but you never flaunted it. And if you couldn't do it, you would let us know. In one way or the other."  
  
Walter didn't know what to say. He was speechless. He decided that actions could speak louder than words; he leaned across and kissed her tenderly. "Thank you." was all he said.  
  
Dana smiled. She was basking under the warmth of his praise. "You're welcome, it was the least I could do."  
  
Walter made a split second decision, one that he knew was going to change his life forever, and steeled himself for the consequences. He took a deep breath. "Dana, I have something I want to ask you. Will you marry me?"  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
3 PM, Sunday  
  
Maggie Scully was dreaming. In her dream, she was out in the rose garden of their home, and talking to her late husband. The rose garden was his favourite part of the garden. Maggie was outlining her fears about her only daughter. "Dana is so lonely," she told him, "and I can't do anything about it. She's hurting bad, and she won't let me help her, Bill!"   
  
Captain William Scully looked fondly at his wife. They were seated side by side on the steps of the gazebo. "Maggie, Maggie, listen to me." he sighed. "Dana is a smart girl, always has been. She doesn't like to open herself up, but she will when she's ready."   
  
"But...I saw how she got attached to Emily, how she acts around children. She wants a baby. She needs a family to make her better. She may not know it, but I do. I can see it, I'm her mother." Maggie replied vehemently.  
  
Bill smiled at the quiet ferocity in his wife's voice. "Mags," he said, using his personal nickname for her, "Dana will find someone when she's ready. In fact, when she does, she may surprise all of us. Don't worry about Dana. She's stronger than she looks."   
  
A persistent ringing broke into whatever Maggie was about to tell her husband. Both of them looked up toward the house. "Go answer the door, Mags."   
  
"But Bill -"   
  
He placed a finger over her lips. "Hush. I'll be here whenever you get back. You know I'll be here whenever you need me." Bill Scully leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his wife's lips. "Go, Mags!" he whispered, and disappeared. Maggie woke up alone, and with tears on her cheeks. Disoriented, she glanced at the clock on the wall. 3 PM. She remembered now, she had dropped to sleep after Sunday lunch. The combination of the heat and good food had lulled her into drowsiness. The knocking continued, albeit slower and with less intensity, and she got up, still sleepy and a little confused. She hated waking up "foolish". She rubbed her eyes and opened the door to find her daughter kissing a taller man in a baseball cap passionately. Dana was backing the door, and he had one arm around the petite redhead, and the other arm was outstretched, knocking on the door. He was so engrossed in what he was doing, he didn't realise that Maggie Scully had come to the door and had opened. His arm slowly dropped and wrapped around the smaller woman, entwining his large fingers in her auburn tresses. Maggie stared at the tableau, a slow smile spreading across her face. She remembered her dream, and sent up a silent prayer of thanks. She wondered who Dana was kissing. She briefly wondered if it was Fox. She knew it wasn't the dark haired man because even though she knew her daughter loved her partner passionately, it was of a brotherly nature, not of an erotic nature. So it wasn't Fox. So who *was* she kissing? Maggie decided to take matters into her own hands.  
  
"Darling, don't you plan to come up for air?" Maggie asked, smiling.  
  
The couple sprang apart, both of them blushing furiously. Dana turned and faced her mother. Even though Dana was embarrassed, Maggie could see that her daughter was radiant. However, she was surprised to see the normally stoic Walter Skinner take off his cap and twist it nervously in his hands like a schoolboy. How strange!  
  
"Uh, Mrs Scully!" he stammered.  
  
Dana looked up at her mother. "I forgot my keys!" she announced, by way of an explanation, and made as if to go inside.   
  
"Have I missed something?" Maggie inquired, looking from one to the other. "I mean, after this show you've put on for the neighbours..." she smiled.  
  
"We should tell you inside." Dana said firmly, then glanced up at Walter Skinner for affirmation. Maggie wondered what that look meant.  
  
They all went inside, and Dana went straight to the kitchen. "Walt, what do you want to eat?" she asked, looking back at him, then getting out the scotch and pouring out a glass for him.  
  
"Nothing, hon." Dana gave him the glass, and he sipped from it. She got colas for herself and her mother.   
  
Maggie watched the interplay silently. She noted Dana's use of Walter's first name, and how comfortable she was around him. She also noticed Dana's inquiry about his hunger. It was strange. It was almost like they were...husband and wife.   
  
"Mom, we have good news." Dana said, after taking a deep breath and looking at Walter for support.   
  
Maggie suddenly knew that her guess was right. They *were* married! . But she remained silent. "Well?" she encouraged.   
  
"Mom, Walter and I got married last night."   
  
Maggie broke into a genuine smile. "That's wonderful!" The couple looked so relieved that Maggie laughed.   
  
"You're not mad that we didn't wake you to fly you to Vegas with us?" Dana wanted to know.  
  
"Why should I be? You're both adults and I know that you're doing the right thing. Have you told Fox, yet?" Maggie asked.  
  
Walter and Dana looked at each other then back at her. "No. We just flew in, and we came straight from the airport. We were going there next." Walter explained.   
  
"I think you should tell him...he deserves to know."   
  
Dana looked at her mother curiously. "Are you sure that you're not upset that we didn't have a church wedding?"   
  
Maggie smiled enigmatically. "Your father always said that when you made a decision, it was the best option that you could have made. I believe him. What we can do is have a small ceremony. A private ceremony. Us, Fox, a few friends and Father Ryan presiding. What do you think?"   
  
Dana hugged her mother tightly. "Thanks Mom."   
  
Maggie returned the hug, then looked up at Walter, her arms outstretched. "What's wrong?" she asked him. "I want to hug my son too." Walter smiled gratefully and went into the older woman's arms. His own mother was long dead, and sometimes he envied close relationship that his new wife had with her mother. Dana was just as happy that her mother was taking this so rationally. It remained to be seen how Fox was going to take it.  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
4 PM, Sunday  
  
Fox Mulder was lonely. He needed human companionship in his life. He considered calling that triple X phone line that he liked, but it wasn't the kind of thing he needed to hear right now. He rolled onto his stomach, on his bed, and sighed. If only it wasn't Sunday. He would have gone into the office to work on something. However, they were between cases now, and there was nothing to go in for. Even Skinner had to be home, soulless workaholic that he was. Skinner had more sense than to be in the office on a sunny Sunday afternoon. Mulder had tried Scully's apartment, in fact, he had tried her first, but she wasn't answering, and her cell was off. Damn. Not for the first time in his lonely life, he cursed his inability to make and keep close friends.   
  
Just as the prospect of calling the speaking clock looked good, the doorbell rang. Mulder sprang off the bed, ran to the front door and stopped. Not wanting to appear pathetically eager, he waited till the doorbell rang a third time before composing himself and opening in the door. Skinner and Scully stood there, both smiling. Mulder started to wonder if his prayer for company had been too vague. Maybe he should have been more specific. Both his boss and his partner turning up on a Sunday afternoon did not bode well. A smiling Skinner, well, that was even worse. It looked, well, wrong! Skinner didn't smile. Right now, Skinner looked as if he had saved up his lifetime's worth of smiling quota in one session. Scary!  
  
Mulder led them into the apartment and did the usual guest thing - offered them drinks - all the while wondering what was wrong. Skinner and Scully kept glancing at each other. He wondered if there was something up. Some bad news they had to impart. No, it couldn't be bad, because Skinner was smiling. He looked relaxed and happy. Relaxed. Happy. Skinner. Those three words were oxymoronic in this case. Mulder had to conclude, then, if Skinner was smiling, it had to be bad. Mulder felt his stomach start to twist itself into knots. *This does not look good!* he warned himself.  
  
"Mulder, we have something to tell you." Scully announced, after looking to Skinner for encouragement. Mulder looked at them, hoping that his face was betraying none of his feelings. After all, these were the two people who knew him better than he knew himself.  
  
"Mulder, we just got back from the airport. Walter and I got married last night."   
  
Mulder never felt himself hit the floor as he pitched forward in a dead faint.   
  
*X*X*X*X*   
  
Mulder was having a really incredible dream. in this dream, Skinner and Scully had gotten married, and were sitting in his apartment, on his couch, kissing. He reached out a hand to try and stop them, and the both turned at that point, grinning maniacally. *Leave him Scully, he doesn't understand. He's never going to find any one to love!* At which Skinner turned back to his new wife and pulled her down for another passionate kiss. Mulder had never felt so much pain in his life. In his dream, both Skinner and Scully looked contented and at ease. They had found something that he'd been searching for his whole life.  
  
"NO!" Mulder bellowed and catapulted himself back to consciousness, sitting bolt upright on his bed.  
  
"Mulder, it's OK. How you feeling?" came a calming voice.   
  
Mulder opened his eyes to find the gentle cerulean gaze of his partner. "You gave us quite a scare, Mulder." she smiled.   
  
"Is it true?" he blurted out, unable to shake off the visions he'd had while out cold.   
  
"About me and Walt?" Dana answered, a frown on her face. Mulder's heart sank. Even Skinner was happy...he was doomed to spend his days alone! Every body he loved was being taken away from him! First Samantha, now Scully. Dana watched horrified as tears started to silently slip down her partner's cheeks. "Don't leave me..." Mulder whispered and clutched onto her hands.  
  
"Mulder? Mulder!" Dana knew shock when she saw it, and Mulder was definitely going into shock. She had never dreamed that he would react this way to the news of the wedding; she now questioned her decision to quit the X Files. It was not going to be the right time to tell him that.   
  
Walter came rushing in at the urgent sound of his wife's voice.  
  
"Dana?" he questioned, stopping short of the bed.   
  
"Its Mulder, he's gone into shock." she said, rocking the crying man.   
  
"Because of us getting married?"   
  
"Its deeper than that, Mulder is not superficial, no matter what people say or think." Dana stoutly defended her partner. He had his head in her lap, and she kept stroking the side of his face.  
  
Skinner's cell phone went off in his pocket, and he answered it brusquely. "Skinner." He listened intently, then swore viciously, and hung up.   
  
"What's wrong?" Dana asked, not liking the stormy look on her husband's face.   
  
"The X Files is on fire again. I have to go in and do some damage control."  
  
"Do they know what caused it?"   
  
"They think its electrical. One of the guards reported seeing sparks a short time before." Walter looked at his wife on the bed. "Stay here with Mulder, I'll handle it, and I'll pick you up tonight. I'll have to call you from the office and -"   
  
"Make it look like you're telling me for the first time, I know." Dana sighed. "I hate this deception."   
  
"It's very necessary, love. But not for long." Walter dropped a swift kiss on his wife's lips. "I'll be back later." he told her softly. He had looked at Mulder; the distressed man had his eyes closed and appeared to be sleeping. He caressed the side of her face, and she turned her face toward his palm and kissed it.   
  
"Ok...I love you, Walt." Dana replied.  
  
"Love you too." With that, the tall man strode out of the bedroom and a few seconds later, she heard the front door close.  
  
Dana sighed. Her life was getting more convoluted by the second. She brushed back her partner's dark hair away from his face, much as one would do with a sleeping child. Fox Mulder worried her a lot. There were times when he would sink into a depressive state, and she suspected that he was going through one right now. That would explain his adverse reaction to her marriage. She sat on the bed for a while, cradling her partner and getting drowsier by the second. She hadn't slept since waking up yesterday afternoon and finding her boss in her kitchen. She'd have to remember he was no longer her only boss, but also her *husband*. She stifled a yawn. Was it her imagination, or was Mulder's head getting heavier? She eased it back onto the pillow, and stifled another yawn. She was so tired! She glanced at the pillow on the other side of the bed. It looked so inviting...she knew that Mulder wouldn't mind if she slept on his bed; she had done it before.   
  
She walked around to the other side of the bed, eased off her shoes and stretched out beside her partner. She couldn't help it, she had to give an ecstatic moan in relief. The bed felt so...soft! Dana settled herself into the bed, and started to drift off into sleep.   
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Dana awoke in darkness to feel a body spooned into her. She could feel puffs of warm breath on the back of her neck, and a heavy arm across her waist. She felt good after her sleep, but wondered where she was, then it all came back to her. She was married. She had a husband. But some how, the body behind her didn't feel like her husband. It felt...*wrong*. Then she remembered the last, most important part. She had left Mulder sleeping, and dropped to sleep on the other side of the bed. Slowly, she started to move to get off the bed. She didn't want to wake him.   
  
"It must be wonderful to have some one love you like that." came Mulder's soft voice, right next to her ear.  
  
"Ahhh!" Dana jumped. "Shit, Mulder, you scared me!" She rolled onto her back, both arms tucked above her head.   
  
"Sorry." Mulder chuckled. "Scully, I'm sorry about earlier. I, ah - "  
  
"It's ok, Mulder, it was kind of sudden, and well, it's a big leap."   
  
"I'm glad for both of you...he really loves you. I heard the two of you talking before he left to go back to the office."  
  
"We thought you were asleep...so I guess, then, that you know about the fire." Dana said softly  
  
She heard and felt her partner's heartfelt sigh. "When it burnt down before, I was devastated, because it put me one step further from finding my sister. Now...now I realise that I'm just tired. I know now what happened to Samantha, and I don't want to go on with it anymore. I know you want to get out, and well, I guess this is the perfect chance. We can restart." Mulder replied.  
  
Dana's mind was reeling from all the information that had come pouring in over the last five minutes.   
  
"Mulder...what is it with you and Walt?" She said ruefully. "He knew I wanted to leave, and now you know. I thought I was unreadable and unapproachable? I thought I was the 'Ice Queen'?" she demanded, not unkindly.  
  
"How - how did you know about that nickname?" he spluttered.  
  
Dana smiled in the darkness. "Remember about four years ago, when you came in with all those cuts and bruises, and you told me you'd been mugged? Well, Marina Hollingsworth saw me in the bathroom and told me the real reason. She saw the fight between you and Agent Robinson. She told me she wished that someone to defend her honour so gallantly like that."   
  
"Marina Hollingsworth...? She was transferred to the LA office just after it happened." Mulder remembered.  
  
"Yep." Dana confirmed.  
  
"And you knew all this time!" Mulder sounded shocked.  
  
Scully giggled. "Yep."   
  
"Why didn't you say something?" Mulder demanded.   
  
"Because I love you too much, Fox Mulder. You're like a brother to me. Closer than a brother. You know more about me than anyone else alive. When we first started to work together, I admit, I was infatuated with you, but I came to realise that we have a bond that no one can break. Not Walter, not my mother, not Cancerman, not the Consortium, not anyone. Don't let anyone take that away from you." Dana rolled onto her side and looked her partner directly in the eye before saying this.  
  
Mulder didn't know what to say. "Shucks, Scully, that's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me."   
  
Dana laughed. She was accustomed to Mulder's offbeat sense of humour by now. She stretched, and got up off the bed. "I have to call my husband and find out what's taking him so long."  
  
"You enjoy saying that, don't you?" Mulder laughed.  
  
"What?"   
  
"My husband."   
  
"I have to admit, it does give me a thrill." Dana admitted, a sheepish grin on her face. She went towards the door.  
  
"Scully?"   
  
"Hmmm?" she stopped and turned.   
  
"You know what? I should have seen it before. It *is* wonderful to be loved like that."  
  
"Thank you Mulder." She smiled and left the room before he could see her cry.   
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
The fire was worse than Walter Skinner had first suspected. It had gutted almost all of the basement offices, and displaced about 100 workers. There were irretrievable records that were lost, and the future of the X files were now at risk. Skinner's direct superior, Deputy Director Thomas Macklin, had told him personally that he was going to loan Mulder in definitely to VCS, and Scully to Forensics. Skinner decided to keep quiet about Scully's resignation. it would just open a whole new can of worms. Macklin had called an emergency meeting with all the ADs and DDs affected as to how they were going to proceed in the immediate future. They were now all in a conference, sitting around a table. Listening to the conference that was going on around him, he knew one thing for sure - the X Files was going to be shut down for good. It was both good and bad. Dana would be happy, but Mulder, well, it remained to be seen how well he would take that piece of news.   
  
After a while, his thoughts drifted to his new wife. Shit, this had been such a crazy weekend. He still felt high. If anyone had told him Friday afternoon at work that by Sunday he would be married to Special Agent Dana Scully, he would have laughed in their faces. All it had taken was the sight of Dana waiting for an unknown date to get him thinking. Never mind that her *date* had been her best friend Lianne Hudson, all ready for a girl's night out. Lianne. He never thought that he would have seen her again. He was glad that he'd had the chance to apologise, even if it was twenty years after the fact. All these things had put his life in perspective, and if he had to do it all again in exactly the same way, he would have.  
  
Skinner looked up to see AD Barbara Collings staring at him intently from across the table. She was a small woman - the same height as Dana - with blonde hair and model features. Her looks usually made her opponents underestimate her, until she had to deal with them. Her reputation as a hard-liner was almost as bad as his, if not worse. Her nickname around the office was 'Ballbreaker', and word had it that *she* was the one that started it. She had the most intense green eyes that went straight through you. She had reduced Agents to tears just by looking at them, both male and female. He wondered if he would ever get that kind of notoriety. She wasn't married, but he'd heard that she went through men like he went through Kleenex when he had a cold. To the best of his knowledge, nobody at the Bureau had ever been insane enough to try her, but, he'd heard from old Marine buddies who knew her that she was a tiger in bed. Babs liked strong men, he knew that, but she had never actually propositioned him. Kim Cook, his secretary, had hinted to him that Babs had been sniffing around on more than one occasion, but Kim, protective mother hen that she was, had warned her off. He wondered what she would say when she found out he was married. He wondered what the *Bureau* would say to that.  
  
Finally, Macklin brought the meeting to an end, and the administrators filed out of the room, leaving Skinner and Barbara Collings. Skinner looked at his watch. It was almost seven thirty! His stomach growled loudly in protest at not being fed, and he suddenly remembered that he and Dana were supposed to have gone to Lianne's for lunch. Damn. What with the wedding and the fire, he had totally forgot. Lianne was probably planning to sacrifice him for personal gratification.   
  
"Skinner?" a soft, seductive, feminine voice called his name. He looked up to find Barbara Collings looking at him speculatively. He was always surprised whenever he heard her voice. It didn't suit her work persona at all. Her features, definitely, but not her personality.   
  
"Barbara" he greeted her cordially, marshalling his thoughts back to the present.   
  
"What are you doing for something to eat?" her heated jade gaze trailed slowly down his torso to his flat stomach and back up to his face. "I think you're as hungry as I am."  
  
The tips of Skinner's ears turned bright red. The seductive tone of her voice made it clear that she was not talking about food! Suddenly he was speechless. Tom Gavaghan, a vet buddy of his, had always told him that when he got married, the woman literally crawled out of the woodwork. He had never noticed with Sharon, he'd been too preoccupied when he was married to her, but now he had more time on his hands, he sure as hell was noticing with Dana.   
  
He opened his mouth to speak, and his cell rang. He had never been so grateful for the tiny square of plastic and electronics in his life. "Skinner!" he barked into the phone.  
  
"Walt?" Dana's amused voice floated over the line.  
  
Barbara watched in interested as his whole demeanour changed totally. Skinner, on his part, was aware of her intense scrutiny, and he shifted slightly out of her direct line of vision so that he could finish his phone call in relative peace.   
  
"Hi." he said, somewhat more subdued.   
  
"Are you soon finished there?" Dana asked him. He could could hear the longing in her voice. It was nice to be wanted like this. Damn, he could get used to this!  
  
"The meeting is done, and I was just about to leave." he replied.  
  
"How about Mulder and I meet you and we all go out for something to eat?"   
  
"Did you talk to Lianne?"   
  
"Lee...? Why?" the redhead sounded puzzled.  
  
"Because of the lunch, remember?"   
  
"Shitshitshitshitshit! Why didn't you remind me?" Dana moaned. Lee was going to kill her!   
  
Skinner chuckled. "I just did!"   
  
"I meant *before*!"   
  
"I just did." he repeated.  
  
"You're an infuriating man, Walter Skinner."   
  
"You've known that for quite a long time now."   
  
"You're not alone, are you?" Dana asked perceptively.  
  
"No, I'm not." he replied, hiding his smile.   
  
"Let me call Lee and call you back, ok?"   
  
"Ok."  
  
From her vantage point on the other side of the room, Barbara watched as Skinner carried on his conversation in an undertone that could not be heard even if she had come and stood up in front of him. She had not really noticed him before now, but seeing him today, in casual clothes, had made her wonder how she could have missed such a delectable specimen of male flesh. She usually made it a policy of never mixing work and pleasure, but for Walter Skinner, she would make an exception. He would be worth it, and discreet, too. Unfortunately for her, her specimen looked like he was going to make his excuses and leave. He had that determined look on his face. Damn!  
  
After finishing his call, he strode back across the room, his work persona firmly in place. "I'll see you tomorrow." he said brusquely and left the room. In the split second after wards, Barbara made her desicion. She was going to follow him. He presented a mystery far too exotic to ignore.  
  
She knew that he had parked down in the garage, she took the other lift and got down there just as he was getting into his car. As luck would have it, his cell phone rang as he sat down. She got into her own car and followed him as he left the parking area.  
  
She knew that he lived in Crystal City; therefore she was suprised when he turned in the opposited direction. She let Skinner lead for about six car lengths, she had to make sure that he didn't know that he was being followed. Fifteen minutes later, he was parking in front of an apartment building, and waiting in the car. Barbara had parked further down the street, and wondered how long she would have to wait. The suspense was killing her!   
  
She didn't have long to wait. Fox Mulder and Dana Scully came out of the building, arm in arm, joking and laughing. She smiled. She just *knew* that the paranormal pair had a relationship!   
  
Even Barbara couldn't have predicted what happened next. It totally blew her mind.  
  
Dana walked over to Walter's car. He had now gotten out and was lounging against the Bureau-issued Taurus. She stepped between his legs and proceeded to kiss him so thoroughly, Barbara started to think that the couple were going to get booked for indecency.  
  
Then Dana whispered something in Skinner's ear. He looked back, then walked down the street to Barbara's car. She was mortified. She didn't think that they had noticed. She turned a peculiar shade of bright red. Reluctantly she rolled down the window. "Hi Walt, Dana." she said as nonchalantly as possible.  
  
Skinner said, his face unreadable, "I don't think I've introduced you to my wife, yet, have I?"  
  
*X*X*X*X*  
  
Dana and Walter lay in bed, going over the day's events.  
  
"I didn't think that Babs could get any redder. I've never seen her speechless before." he laughed.   
  
Dana, who was lying on top of her husband, giggled. "Serve her right. she had no right following you in the first place." she shifted slightly. "I sent in my resignation to Kersh. Now that the Ballbreaker knows, the whole Bureau will know by tomorrow."  
  
"Ok."  
  
"Thats all? don't you mind?"  
  
"Why should I? This means I can kiss you at work and not get hauled up in front of a committee for doing it."  
  
"But we have to find a partner for Mulder." Dana sighed.  
  
Why? The basement is gutted, and he's gone to Violent Crimes for the forseeable future. He may never need another partner."  
  
"There's no one that could replace me, anyway."  
  
"Thats what I love about you, Dana Skinner. You're so modest. " Walter deadpanned.   
  
Dana laughed again, and snuggled even more closer to her husband. "Say it again."  
  
"What?"  
  
"My name."  
  
"What, Dana Skinner?" Walter sounded amused.  
  
Dana sighed in contentment. "I will always love hearing you say that. Y'know, if someone had told me two days ago that I would be married, I would have laughed in their face." She reflected.  
  
"Me too." he agreed.  
  
"This has to be the strangest 48 hours in the history of my life."  
  
"But it's the best." Walter Skinner put his arms around his wife and pulled her down for a passionate kiss.  
  
"Hmmm, yes," she agreed breathlessly some time afterwards. "It's definitely the best."  
  
End.  
  
  



End file.
